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Find Your State Factsheet FIND YOUR STATE 1. Alaska 2. Arizona 3. California a. Central California b. Southern California 4. Colorado 5. Florida 6. Idaho 7. Iowa 8. Maine 9. Minnesota 10. Missouri 11. Nevada 12. New Mexico 13. New York 14. North Carolina 15. Pennsylvania 16. South Carolina 17. Texas 18. Utah 19. Virginia 1. ALASKA ALREADY OBSERVED ANTICIPATED FUTURE RISKS TO SOCIETY CHANGES CHANGES Alaska’s temperatures are By 2050, daily high The recent heat wave in warming twice as fast as temperatures in Alaska the Gulf of Alaska reduced the global average1, and may increase up to 8°F fisheries catch and led to Denali National Park is now compared to 1981-2000; an approximately 80% 3.3°F warmer than it was the coldest nights may reduction in the allowable 100 years ago.2 increase by more than Pacific Cod quota in 2018.6 12°F, and the number of HEAT Average temperatures nights below freezing may Permafrost thawing is during winter in Alaska are decrease by 20+ nights per damaging buildings, roads, nearly 6°F higher than in year.4 and cultural heritage sites 1970.3 and structures as the The number of heat wave ground sinks.7 days could more than triple by 2050.5 The number of coastal The 100-year coastal Flooding and erosion of flood days observed on the floodplain in Alaska is coastal and river areas Pacific Coast in the period projected to expand from affect over 87% of the between 2005 and 2014 nearly 13,000 square miles Alaska Native was more than six times as to more than 15,000 communities.11 COASTAL high as that observed in square miles by the 1950s.8 Of the 735 midcentury, which will As the sea ice edge moves FLOODING coastal flood days since affect around 3,000 more northward, storms produce 1950, 75% are attributed to residents.10 larger waves and cause human-caused climate more coastal flooding and change.9 erosion, threatening communities.12 Alaska has more area The area burned by Wildfires and temperature burning in wildfires than wildfires from 2006-2100 increases have caused any other state, and the could be 120 million acres changes in forest and wildfire season is now 40% if greenhouse gas vegetation types, which longer than in the 1950s, emissions continue affects wildlife and rural with nearly 350,000 more unabated.14 communities.15 WILDFIRES acres burned each year, and on average around 40 Wildfire smoke exposure is more large wildfires each a concern for children and year – twice as many as 60 people with chronic years ago.13 respiratory and cardiovascular conditions.16 1 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26#fig-26-1 • The statewide annual average temperature record shows no clear change from 1925 to 1976 due to high variability, but from 1976–2016 a clear trend of +0.7°F per decade is evident. 2 https://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/100-years-of-warming-at-the-national-parks • Source data from Hadley CRU Hi-Res Dataset. 3 https://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/seasonal-warming-trends-across-the-us • Trends for meteorological seasons are calculated using monthly average temperature data between 1970 and 2017 (data from the NOAA NCEI). For clarity and the ability to compare different seasons, authors omitted the annual data points and displayed only the linear trends over time. 4 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • These temperature projections assume the high emissions scenario RCP8.5. 5 http://assets.statesatrisk.org/summaries/Alaska_report.pdf • The annual number of heatwave days is calculated as the average number of days each year on which the daily maximum temperature exceeds the 95th percentile of daily maximum temperature in the baseline (1991-2010) period for at least three consecutive days. While days above this temperature are not all potentially harmful to human health, an increase in hot days is an indicator of general warming. 6 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • These reductions are having significant impacts on Alaska fishing communities and led the governor of Alaska to ask the Federal Government to declare a fisheries disaster. Events such as these are requiring the use of multiple, alternative models to appropriately characterize uncertainty in future population trends and fishery harvests. 7 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • As evidenced by Nelson et al. 2001, Hong et al. 2014, and Raynolds et al. 2014. 8 https://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/natural-human-caused-coastal-flood-days-in-the-us • Authors subtracted yearly estimates for human-caused global sea level rise based on Kopp et al. 2016, from hourly water level records at 27 tide gauges around the United States. They then compared how many days the water level exceeded the local threshold for nuisance flooding — with or without the subtractions. 9 https://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/natural-human-caused-coastal-flood-days-in-the-us • Authors subtracted yearly estimates for human-caused global sea level rise based on Kopp et al. 2016, from hourly water level records at 27 tide gauges around the United States. They then compared how many days the water level exceeded the local threshold for nuisance flooding — with or without the subtractions. 10 http://assets.statesatrisk.org/summaries/Alaska_report.pdf • Coastal flooding could disproportionately affect Native Alaskans, who make up the majority of residents in Alaska’s remote coastal villages along the western and northern coasts where topography is relatively flat. 11 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • Estimate based on the assessment of five separate studies: Cochran et al. 2013, Inter-agency Working Group 2009, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 2009, U.S. Government Accountability Office 2009, and U.S. General Accountability Office 2003. 12 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • As highlighted in Gibbs and Richmond 2015, the National Assessment of Shoreline Change: Historical Shoreline Change along the North Coast of Alaska. 13 http://assets.climatecentral.org/pdfs/westernwildfires2016vfinal.pdf • Trends for wildfires in the 11 western states of the contiguous U.S. are calculated on large wildfires (those larger than 1,000 acres) occurring on U.S. Forest Service land between 1970-2015. These wildfires represent a significant percent of the total area burned each year in western wildfires, and thus they are a suitable representative of overall wildfire trends. Trends for Alaskan fires are based on large wildfires burning on both federal and state land across Alaska between 1950-2015. 14 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • These projections of area burned by wildfires assume the high emissions scenario RCP8.5. 15 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • The vegetation of forested interior Alaska now has less acreage of older spruce forest and more of post- fire early successional vegetation, birch, and aspen than it did prior to 1990. This change favors shrub- adapted wildlife species such as moose but also destroys the slow-growing lichens and associated high- quality winter range that caribou prefer, though the effects of fire-driven habitat changes to caribou population dynamics are uncertain. 16 https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/26/ • Air conditioning in homes is rare in Alaska, so relief is seldom available for at-risk persons to escape high temperatures or from smoke exposure due to wildfires, assuming proper filters are not installed. 2. ARIZONA ALREADY OBSERVED ANTICIPATED FUTURE RISKS TO SOCIETY CHANGES CHANGES Arizona is 4th-fastest Heat wave days in Arizona Tucson ranks 6th in U.S. warming state in U.S.1 are expected to more than cities with the largest triple by 2050 from 15 to 50 increase in ‘disease danger Phoenix is 2nd-fastest days a year.4 days’ (risk of disease warming city in the U.S. transmission by followed by Prescott as the ‘Dangerous’ heat days are mosquitoes), increasing by 5th and Tucson as the 7th.2 projected to grow from 50 29 days since 1970.7 HEAT days a year to 80 by 2050.5 Average temperatures in By midcentury, Arizona Arizona during spring have Number of days above summers could see 20% warmed by 4°F since 100°F in Phoenix may reduction in electricity 1970.3 nearly double from 80 to generation capacity.8 150 by end of century.6 Drought in the By 2050, the severity of Reduced water flow from southwestern U.S. is widespread summer the Colorado River is declining the western drought is projected to impacting Arizona’s water snowpack, and this along more than triple in Arizona, supply; Tucson gets almost with rising temperatures the second largest increase all their water from the have reduced water flow behind Washington.10 River, while Phoenix down the Colorado River.9 receives about half its DROUGHT supply.11 Higher number of cases of Valley fever have occurred in Arizona from drier conditions.12 Arizona now sees three By 2050, Arizona is Nearly 3 million people times more fires burning projected to see over one living in Arizona – 45% of per year than in the 1970s, more month of high wildfire the state’s population – are which has led to thousands potential, leading to 115 at- at elevated risk of wildfire.15 WILDFIRES of more acres burned each risk days each year.14 year.13 Infrastructure is especially vulnerable to increased wildfires.16 1 http://statesatrisk.org/arizona/extreme-heat • Warming rates are evaluated from year 1970 to today. 2 https://www.climatecentral.org/news/fastest-warming-cities-20535 • This analysis considered the top 200 largest metro areas in the U.S. and calculated their average annual temperature from 1981-2010. To determine which of those 200 cities have been warming the fastest, authors calculated how average annual temperatures have been changing since 1965.
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